Money, Money, Money
by Nenalata
Summary: There was a reason Calem never had an opportunity to change his clothes the same way that there was a reason Serena always switched to Litleo whenever he was down to his last Pokémon. That reason meant he wasn't sure he wanted to battle her again after this.


It had been a while since he'd seen Serena, Calem realized somewhere along his travels. From the occasional Holo Clips he'd received from Tierno—who'd run into her much more frequently—she'd been doing the same as him, battling Gym Leaders and getting stronger. That last part worried him from his point of view as a fellow Trainer, as his losses to her were quickly reaching the "often" stage. He could only remember one time that he'd ever beaten her, early on in their adventure, but she had scurried to a Pokémon Center then scurried back to him demanding a rematch. Which he had lost.

Despite the fact that he kept losing to her—or maybe because of it—Calem was starting to miss her. That in of itself was a little odd, since he really didn't know her that well, but he measured that up to his immense respect for her as a Trainer. It had been hard, lately, finding decent Trainers who could meet him at his own level, and he didn't like the resigned sense of expectation he was starting to feel every time some schoolboy asked him to battle. Arrogance was a quality Calem didn't like in himself, but it sure was hard to fight off with each one-attack battle.

And yet no matter how many battles Calem and his Pokémon won, he always seemed to be short of change, he mused with a sigh. Quilladin ate the most out of his three companions, and Calem needed to keep himself fed as well. Between food and necessary Pokémon supplies, he was finding himself running low on cash most days. Even more frustrating was how the last few Trainers he'd beaten had sheepishly handed over a paltry sum upon defeat, explaining how they'd been losing more battles than they'd have liked and didn't have more on them.

Calem was too proud—and would be too inconvenienced—to go back home and ask for more money, and it wasn't like he was _poor_, per se, but it would have been nice to buy a new jacket or go to a restaurant or _something_. At the moment, he'd managed to scrimp enough that maybe he could afford to buy everyone something nice for dinner tonight, but that had been through a _lot_ of scrimping.

There was some sort of connection between Serena and his lack of funds, he just knew it. He had a faint, niggling memory of something related to her…something to do with a Pokémon, or maybe an item, or…but no, it was gone. It really had been too long since they'd battled; he wasn't even sure which Pokémon she even kept with her at this point.

Well, that decided it. He was short on funds, itching for a challenge, and didn't know what Serena had been up to. It was a risk, but everything in life was risky: before he could think twice, he was inputting Serena's information and began his Holo Clip.

"Serena. Meet me at—" he glanced at the Route number and repeated it, "—whenever you can. I'd like to battle and compare our strength." Calem paused for a fraction of a second before ending the recording. He'd almost considered tacking on how frustrated he was, how she was his best teacher, etcetera, etcetera, but that might be revealing too much.

He sighed again and made himself comfortable under a tree. It was tempting to explore the tall grass while he waited, considering he only had three Pokémon with him, but there wasn't a Poké Center around for a few miles and he wasn't sure how quickly she'd arrive.

_Bip_! "Sounds great, Calem! Meet you in five minutes." She must have been in a bad reception area, because her voice was muffled and her hologram wasn't quite forming properly, but thanks anyway, as that answered that question.

Sure enough, Serena appeared moments later, waving cheerfully to him. It was all Calem could do not to stare as he halfheartedly waved back.

Clearly not _everyone_ was in as dire financial straits as he was.

New haircut, new hair color, new hat, sunglasses, shoes, a _dress_…Honestly, he'd never had a reason (or the _cash_) to enter a boutique, so he couldn't even guess at the price, but her outfit just screamed "expensive!"

Calem's stomach rumbled very quietly.

"Are you ready?" he asked when she approached, and she nodded with vigor.

Well, it all went as he'd secretly expected. It was a mistake sending out his Psychic type when he knew—he _knew_—her favorite type was Dark, but at least after that fainted, having his Absol appear threw her for a loop. At least for a second. Then, she merely overpowered it with her higher-level Charmeleon, and out went his last, his dear Quilladin.

To his surprise, she chose to withdraw her Charmeleon. That didn't make sense, unless she had another Fire type up her—

_Oh, no_.

He'd remembered.

It wasn't the Pokémon that was the problem. It was its _item_.

"Go, Litleo!"

Well, so much for buying everyone a nice dinner tonight.

Serena's Litleo luxuriously stretched and emitted a cute little _rneow_ of contentment before setting Calem's poor Quilladin ablaze.

An Amulet Coin glinted around her neck in the light of the fire.

Calem counted out the money he was going to eat with and then, powerless to stop himself, counted out the money he was going to buy a Revive with and handed the pile of cash over to Serena. He gritted his teeth and didn't return her self-satisfied, cheery farewell. Perhaps it was immature, but his stomach was growling too loudly for him to care.

He didn't think he was going to miss Serena again any time soon.


End file.
